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WILKES-BARRE — The woman who allegedly had her stepfather killed has been released from jail after a magistrate reduced her bail on Thursday.

Kendra L. Dias, 24, appeared before District Judge Richard M. Cronauer on charges of criminal solicitation to commit homicide and criminal conspiracy to commit homicide.

Prosecutors are accusing the Sugar Notch woman of soliciting several people to kill her stepfather, Donald Bachman, 49, who was gunned down outside of his Willow Street home on May 1, 2015. She allegedly paid an unknown person $1,500 to perform the hit.

So far, a shooter has not been identified.

Police say Dias orchestrated the killing because Bachman was a community activist, reporting criminal activities to police.

Dias, through her attorney Nanda Palissery, waived her right to a hearing, sending the charges up to Luzerne County Court. However, they did this under an agreement made with prosecutors to allow for the reduction of bail.

Cronauer previously set Dias’ bail at $1 million straight cash, but reduced it to $500,000 unsecured bail on Thursday. Unsecured bail means that Dias was be able to leave the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, and will only need to pay the $500,000 if she fails to appear at her next court appearance.

Court records viewed Thursday night indicated Dias had been released.

Dias’ time out on bail will be strictly monitored, however. She will be required to wear an electronic monitoring device at all times and may have absolutely no contact with either Bachman’s family or any potential witnesses in the case.

After the brief hearing, Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino, who is lead prosecutor on the case, stopped short of explaining why the prosecution team agreed to the bail reduction, saying simply that there were “extenuating circumstances” that led to it — but he did emphasize that the crimes Dias is accused of are bailable offenses.

“Today she’s getting bail, but it’s bail with extensive conditions,” Ferentino said. “In the event that she violates, she understands that she’ll be back in prison.

“Under the law, she’s entitled at this point to bail, but we’re entitled to put conditions on bail to guarantee she’s going to answer to these charges and essentially walk the straight-and-narrow while she’s on bail,” he went on.

One of the extenuating circumstances that Ferentino could have been alluding to is Dias’ current pregnancy, along with the fact that she has two children at home. Ferentino did say that he believes Dias is neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk.

Bachman’s sister, Judi Comisky, said after the hearing that she doesn’t believe Dias should be getting out of jail.

“Even though she will be under supervision, I think that’s bull,” she said. “It’s not sufficient enough for me.”

Comisky said she and her family had no idea that Dias’ bail would be reduced before the hearing, but she said she’s glad the charges are moving forward and that she and her family trust Ferentino and the rest of the investigation team.

Ferentino declined to comment about any other elements of the investigation other than to say it’s ongoing.

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By Patrick Kernan

[email protected]

Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan